Scott Wagenblast

03 Feb 08:05

That looks like a great wave to practice on.

Couple things I noticed when looking at this clip compared to your land based pop ups.

1. In the water, you paused after getting your right foot planted between your hands. I'd say try to make it one continuous movement from prone to standing like you do in your land based training.

2. In your land based pop up you keep your back heel off the ground which allows you to keep your hips squared off with the front of the mat. In the water, you pivot your back heel down while standing which puts your lower body more side on. I have tight hips/ankles and I don't like the feel of having my back heel off the board. Focusing on my coffee cup arm has been a huge help with my surfing, but getting really front on just doesn't feel realistic for me. I would say try to be more consistent between what you practice on land and what you do in the water, whether it's surfing with your back heel off the board or pivoting your back heel down on land.

3. On your land based pop up clip, Clay's comment was to stand taller. If you can afford to burn a wave or two, I'd say try a couple where you do nothing but stand taller without worrying or trying to do anything else just to see how it feels.

Have fun!

Reply

14 Jan 09:22

Any idea what clicked for you? Struggling with my right arm as a goofy foot.

John Kuras Yeah that's tough. The wave pool would be a nice addition to that area. The surf skating is a lot of fun and definitely helps to keep you motivated and engaged through the flat spells.

14 Jan 02:17

Looks good. Have you had a chance to surf since making the progress in the bowl? NJ has been almost completely flat to start the year.

04 Jan 00:34

Nice!

John Kuras Yeah, looks like you'd have enough space on most the attempts to clear that ledge. I think backside turns generally feel easier for the reasons you mentioned, but the coping can definitely be hard to judge. I am always surprised how much room I have when looking at my video clips.

John Kuras Does that ledge stop around that shadow line in the clip?

03 Jan 02:40

For the backside turn, I know you're watching out for that ledge from the roll in, but it might help get your board around if you start turning your head to look back at the opposite corner sooner.

Thanks, that makes sense. I'll try to focus on that next time out.

I think part of the bend at the waist is from sucking my legs up to get the board to the top of the wave, but agree it looks like I am collapsing/folding over at the start of the turn.

It feels like the board drops out from under me as I go back down the wave through the turn. Do you think that might be from not having enough weight over the front foot?